RALEIGH, N.C. — No more NHL arenas exist where the Avalanche is undefeated. Entering this season, there were two: the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., and the RBC Center in Raleigh.

In each case, on a Sunday afternoon, the Avs were soundly beaten at the arenas, the latest 5-2 at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes in front of 18,680 fans at the RBC.

Thus, the Avs’ three-game win streak is over, as is their dominance over a Carolina team they were 11-0-2 against since the franchise moved from Hartford, Conn., in 1997.

The Avs were outshot 39-19, largely because of eight power plays given to the Hurricanes by whistle-happy referees Stephane Auger and Gord Dwyer. The Avs killed all eight, but the constant penalty-killing duty disrupted their flow and wore down the players doing the extra work.

“Wish they’d (have) let us play a little more, but they called it tight,” said Avalanche coach Tony Granato, whose team remains last in the Western Conference. “All those power plays gave them momentum, gave them life. We did a good job killing penalties, but it took a lot of energy out of us.”

Fifty-nine seconds into the contest, the Avalanche had a 1-0 lead on Wojtek Wolski’s short-side shot through the 5-hole of Carolina goalie Cam Ward. The Avs played rugged, hard-hitting hockey in the period, but all it got them were trips to the box. Cody McCormick, for instance, was sent to the sin bin for the kind of incidental hard shove that happens every few minutes in the NHL. While most every referee would overlook what McCormick did, he got a roughing penalty.

It was a 2-2 game after Darcy Tucker scored his first goal since Jan. 2, at the 2:12 mark of the second period. From then on, it was all Hurricanes. Joni Pitkanen got what proved to be the game-winner with 2:54 left in the second, a rebound putback of Tuomo Ruutu’s drive. The big rebound allowed by Avs goalie Andrew Raycroft was probably the one big mistake in what otherwise was a valiant effort in net. He stopped 34-of-38 shots and was the victim of some poor coverage down low at times by Avs defenders and forwards. The forwards also surrendered the puck too easily, especially at the blue lines.

“I think it’s our puck management that still has to get cleaned up,” Granato said. “For us to get to the next level, we’ve got to get our forwards to do a better job of collectively managing the puck. If we do, we’re going to be in really good shape.”

The game was salted away for Carolina at the 8:49 mark of the third period, when light-scoring forward Ryan Bayda put home a doorstep chance. Matt Cullen scored three goals for the Hurricanes, who were Stanley Cup champions not even three years ago.

“It was just a lot of little things that went wrong today,” Wolski said. “We just couldn’t get any momentum going.”

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